Everything you need to know about weight loss equipment

Introduction

With the arrival of spring, the gyms begin to fill with athletes’ eager to lose weight for the summer. Others prefer the comfort of the house and condition of a small gym. But, attention, not all weight loss machines are just as effective.

Here we explain the pros and cons of the most used weight loss equipment worldwide and how to lose weight without harming your health.

One of the fundamental parts of any exercise workout is the correct use of gym equipment for weight loss. Remember that its function is based on isolating the work of each of the muscle groups. But to get the most out of it, you need to know how to use them correctly. You should also know their benefits and forget all the myths around them.

The first thing is to differentiate between the different types of weight-loss devices. Here we share the main features of each type and the correct way to use them.

Elliptical trainer

It is one of the most exciting pieces of weight loss equipment you can find today. The benefits of making an elliptical trainer every day are multiple and varied. If you consider including it in your workouts, check all the services and why it is so recommended.

Getting an effective way to lose weight can be a grueling quest. Few exercises can be as complete and beneficial to the body as those you can perform with a cross-trainer. Simply put, it is ideal for strengthening all the muscles of the body, losing weight, and enjoying good health.

Benefits

• You can make several movements at once: In each activity repeated cyclically, the elliptical trainer allows you to work different groups of muscles and tendons efficiently. In each complete action in it, you will be performing exercises that separately will take you many more minutes. So, you can perform the step, ski, or running movements on one device.

• Minimizes the risk of injury: it reduces loads and impacts on joints and the rest of the body. This makes it especially recommended for those who have joint problems or have common recurrent injuries. It also reduces loads on soles and minimizes muscle tensions.
• Best Weight Loss Machine: If your goal is to lose weight or perform an effective cardiovascular exercise to stay at a specific weight, sign up for elliptical trainer weight training. At moderate intensity, thirty minutes of work can burn about 300 Kcal, which can rise to 750-800 Kcal at high intensity for one hour.
• Works and strengthens a wide variety of muscles: Improves lower and upper limb muscles. With full use of an elliptical trainer, you will be working 80% of your body’s muscles by exercising your legs and using the canes.
• Allows different types of exercises: The cross trainer will enable you to work the body globally. It is an excellent exercise to lose weight and keep toned all the muscles of the body.
• It helps you reduce stress: Regularly working on an elliptical bike will oxygenate your body and release hormones such as endorphins, so-called happy hormones. This will help increase your sense of well-being and get rid of stress.
• Improve your cardiovascular ability: You will ostensibly improve your cardiovascular health, strengthen your heart, and increase your lung capacity. Also, you will stimulate blood circulation in your entire body, and cholesterol levels will decrease in your body.

Training with this weight losing machine at home or in the gym is a great choice. Please make the most of it for your health and good physical condition. You will notice the results from the first exercise sessions.

More common errors

Although it is a suitable weight loss device and very beneficial for health, we can often suffer injuries if we misuse it. The most common errors in the use of Elliptical trainer are:

• Do not place your feet correctly on the pedals.
• Tilt the body forward or backward so that the back causes unwanted compensation.
• Do not hold on to the handles on each side, as you may lose your balance.
• Move the two lower limbs at the same time.
• Perform sudden and forced movements.

Some recommendations

It is recommended to exercise for 5 to 20 minutes in the Elliptical trainer. This machine is very beneficial for those who want to strengthen the lower extremities and who suffer from arthritis/degenerative joint pains with frequent use.

Note that this machine is contraindicated for those who suffer from some pathology of the lower limb in the acute phase.

Hydraulic rowing machine

With each hour of training in the hydraulic rowing machine, you can burn between 350 and 700 calories. Thanks to this weight loss equipment, upper and lower joints are exercised, making it very interesting to burn fat quickly.

How it works is very simple. Just sit in the seat on a rail, which will allow you to slide from back to front. This simulates the movement of rowing with your arms.

The rowing machine is one of the best ways to strengthen the cardiovascular system and muscles of the whole body. This type of exercise burns many calories and not only works the legs, as usual in the cardio but also the upper half of the body.

Benefits

The main advantage of the rowing machine is the toning of the back muscles. While with regular cardio, like running, usually only the legs are worked.

Paddling not only strengthens your back muscles but also develops endurance, increases lung capacity, and helps relieve back pain. The muscle groups involved in rowing are the deltoid and trapezius dorsalis, although it also serves to work the buttocks, arms, and forearms.

Besides, this rowing machine can be used in training mode at high-intensity intervals, so it is an effective weight loss equipment.

Like any other cardiovascular exercise, the rowing machine has a positive effect on the health of the body. People who do this type of activity regularly have lower blood pressure, and blood cholesterol levels are also reduced.

Another benefit of the rowing machine is losing weight. The actual weight loss figure depends on the person’s initial weight, rowing intensity, and duration. However, it is estimated that, on average, about 190 Kcal per hour is lost.

More frequent errors

Here we leave a list of common errors when using a rowing machine. Pay attention and always avoid them:

• Raise the elbows and take them off the torso when pulling the pulley, which will make us focus the effort on other unwanted muscle groups. Therefore, try not to open the armpits too much and relax the shoulders so that the hands do not go up close to the chin but are at stomach height.
• Over-flex your wrists while gripping the handles. When pulling the pulley, we work not only the muscles of the back and shoulders but also, we will be tensioning the flexors of the hand, which can cause unwanted discomfort or even injuries. Ideally, take the pulley with both hands, using all the fingers, and relax the wrists without flexing or extending them rigidly.
• Tilt your back too far when pulling the pulley. In this position, the hands will be directed to the chin, and we will be subtracting effort from the muscles that we want to work with. It is best to keep our backs straight, and even if we lean back a little bit, we must try to do it as little as possible because, in this way, we will work without impulse and in a controlled manner.
• Extend the legs before pulling the pulley or flexing the knees before starting the return to the starting position. This does not generate coordinated movement and can damage the lower back by leaving us with a curved or very inclined back. It is advisable to safely and effectively perform a simultaneous gesture of legs and arms to exercise in a rowing machine.
• Extend the knees or block them. This can cause injury with repetitive hyperextension of the joint. It is advisable always to maintain a slight flexion, even when the legs should stretch when pulling the pulley and carrying it towards the trunk.

Some recommendations

Rowing is a complete exercise. This weight losing equipment involves both upper and lower limb muscles. As with all activities, several general recommendations never go wrong to avoid injury and increase exercise effectiveness:

• Before starting, make sure the heel is comfortably supported at the pedal base and conveniently adjusts the straps. Do not exercise barefoot for hygiene and safety.
• If you are a beginner but the resistance is lower and do well the movement of the exercise in your first sessions. Gradually increase the intensity of practice as the days go by.
• The position of the back should be straight, with normal physiological curvatures. It will be your hips that flex and extend when you make a move.
• Do not wear your elbows at shoulder height. Keep your elbows close to the thorax when pulling the pulley, so try not to open the armpits too much. That way, your shoulders will work, and you won’t overload other areas.
• Pull the pulley until your thumbs are up to your stomach.
• Do not swing the body backward to apply more force.
• Do not fully extend your legs; repeated hyper surges may resent your knee.
• Do not perform this exercise if your spine has any condition or discomfort in the back area.

Stepper for weight loss

It is one of the most comfortable weight losing machines you will find, especially since there is not much room in the house. One hour of this exercise burns between 300 and 500 calories. The only drawback is that it works quite a lot in the twin’s area and is a little tiring.

A stepper will help us lose weight, improve our cardiovascular endurance, and tone our buttocks, quadriceps, twins, and other musculature of our legs, abdomen, and lower back.

It is easy to use, protects our joints from typical wear and tear from running and climbing stairs, and promotes fast and effective fat burning. Without a doubt, a weight loss equipment that we can use both at home and in the gym.

Benefits

The benefits of exercising in a stepper are many:

• It tones the entire lower body, making it an excellent device for people who accumulate fat in that area.
• It can be used without depending on the weather (as opposed to whether we were playing an outdoor sport)
• The device takes up little space (so-called ‘mini stepper’), so you can exercise anywhere in the house.
• Many of these machines tell us the calories spent, the time of exercise, or even the number of ‘steps’ climbed.

Most common errors

Stepper training is becoming increasingly popular due to the great benefits it has. However, we often abuse and suffer injuries for not making proper use.

To start using a steeper, you will tone the muscles of the legs (buttocks, quadriceps, hamstrings, twins). This is good for cardio training so that we will increase our heart rate.

The most common mistake for beginners is to start training at a high pace. This causes muscles to work at a higher rate than we are used to and leads to muscle fatigue.

Some recommendations

To make the most of the benefits of training with this weight losing equipment, it is essential to follow different training routines. If you use only this device and consistently repeat the same exercises, you will despise it.

It would help if you combined the stepper with other workouts and ideally use the stepper at least three days a week for half an hour, although from 20 minutes, we will start burning fats. At most, we will be using the stepper for an hour.

To avoid that repetitiveness, we can do a day of 60 minutes, two days between 25 and 35 minutes, and the rest of the week, use the stepper to warm up before doing other strength exercises. This will help you tone and model your body.

Before getting on the stepper, do not forget to stretch to improve flexibility and avoid jerking or sharpening. It is crucial to start with few repetitions during the first few sessions, but you should gradually increase the difficulty as you get used to the stepper.

Static bike for weight loss

Static bike is the first machine we all turn to when we are new to the gym. It is noticeable that it is the simplest of all weight losing equipment.

It allows strengthening the legs, especially the buttocks and quadriceps. In 60 minutes, you can burn between 500 and 900 calories, depending on the intensity of your exercises.

For some, it is a lot of fun, mainly because it allows you to do another activity while training, such as watching TV or reading a book. It brings essential benefits to the cardiovascular system. To prevent possible discomfort, it is recommended to keep your back straight.

Benefits

There are many benefits of training by static bike, here we mention the most important ones:

• Improving cardiovascular rhythm.
• Burn calories faster and better.
• More blood pressure and increases heart rate.
• This is an exercise that can be done at home.
• It improves your physical health, burns fat, and reduces weight.
• Digestion is faster.

Most common errors

Poor saddle position: A saddle that is too low or even forward forces your legs to be too bent. This position can cause discomfort in the anterior part of the knee, inducing an external knee rotation. And if we take an advanced place when pedaling standing, it will cause an overload of the muscle groups of the upper limb.

An overly advanced saddle and a significantly raised handlebar force the trunk to be too straight. This may seem like a relaxing position, leading to compression of the intervertebral discs at the lumbosacral level.

Over-flexing the column: Under the roof, we do not need an aerodynamic coupling, as is the case with the outdoor bike. This allows us to adopt a somewhat higher position, gaining comfort. The inclination of the trunk will be adjusted between 30 and 45 degrees, depending on the terrain being simulated or the intensity of the training.

Some recommendation

First, to avoid pain or injury, you must consider posture. The saddle should be positioned relative to our height and, once the handlebars are grasped, the back should remain straight.

As for the exercise time needed to lose weight, everything will depend on the pedaling intensity. Both time and passion are conditioned by the physical conditions of the person. An exercise bike session of an athletics fan will not be the same as that of a beginner who does not usually perform cardio or aerobic exercises.

However, calorie-burning and weight and fat loss will be directly related to time, consistency, and exercise intensity. Of course, at this point, food plays a fundamental role. It is of no use to burn 400 kcal in an exercise bike session if a dinner of equal or more outstanding caloric contribution is ingested afterward.

An exercise bike pedaling session of about 45 minutes can result in losing approximately 400 kcal. Also, we need to know that the body starts to burn a more significant number of calories from the first 20-30 minutes.

Treadmill for weight loss

Many people who dare not go for a run to the street find a good escape route on the gym’s treadmill. It is an ideal device for losing weight. With it, you can lose between 450 and 600 calories, and you can burn even more if you increase the intensity.

If you are not in favor of running, you can also walk at high speed. That is the only way you would make the most of it. It is recommended to use good running shoes, with cushioning, so that your knees do not suffer.

Benefits

The health benefits of this weight losing machine are truly relevant. You must know how to properly assess the use of this machine in the gym or at home. Among them:

• Improves cardiovascular capacity and health with regular treadmill training. It also helps improve your heart’s strength and reduce blood pressure.
• Improves the strength of muscles.
• Helps improve the oxygenation of the body.
• Helps fight bone loss.
• The advantages of running on tape to mold the figure are essential. In men and women. Mainly because it helps burn calories, avoid sagging and improve the figure. Besides, it helps build and tone the muscles.

Most common errors

Although it may seem like a simple exercise, there are several errors when using a treadmill that we sometimes do by default:

1. Do not have a training plan.
2. Do not take the correct position when running.
3. Train much more than you should.
4. Wear the wrong shoes to train.
5. Look at your feet or legs as you run.
6. Hold on to the safety railings.
7. Do not hydrate enough.
8. Take very long steps.
9. Do not increase the intensity of the exercise.
10. Improperly step on falling.

Some recommendations

If you have never used a treadmill before, it is best to start with three training sessions a week for 30 to 45 minutes. Keep in mind the frequency and intensity of workouts will depend on your fitness and the number of calories you need to lose.

Do not forget to do a small pre-warm-up to avoid injury or muscle fatigue. Remember to hydrate every little bit and always maintain a good position.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which exercise machine is best for losing belly fat?

Without a doubt, the stationary bike is a perfect device to burn the fat of the belly. It was incorporated into a belly-loss exercise routine. The stationary bike can be one of the best weight-loss devices out there. It is a matter of using it well and at the right time. In this way, we will manage to lose a surprising number of calories.

What fitness equipment is best for losing weight?

Some trainers choose the hydraulic rowing machine as the best weight loss machine. Why this rating is simple: halfway between cardio and strength machines, this device makes us use 80% of our muscle mass and activates the whole body. Exercising your legs and arms simultaneously, you can lose up to 1000 calories in an hour. However, you must use this device correctly to achieve your goals without suffering any injuries.

What is the fastest way to lose belly fat at the gym?

A rowing machine is an ideal companion for weight loss in the gym. This equipment involves many muscles and body areas. Indoor rowing is a complete activity that will help us quickly burn calories.